Ephram, an old ghost, was driven to near madness by almost two centuries of lonely wanderings, and is haunting the Haunted Shack looking for rest.

Claire Clutterbell first mentions Ephram to the player after he frightened her when she visited the Haunted Shack. After the player returns Ephram his urn containing his ashes and answers his riddles, he calms down and allows the player to take from his possessions as thanks. After this, Ephram is never seen in the game again.

Earl is a ghost living in the SimQuarter Graveyard. The player is free to interact with him however they like. In the day he can be seen in the mausoleum, and at night he can be seen wandering around the graveyard. Sometimes he can be found in Club Xizzle. At the end of the game the player goes back in time using his/her time machine and meets Ephram when he was alive, and he keeps the flag that Daddy Bigbucks plants to obtain all of Miniopolis. That is the only time the player gets to see Ephram as a living person apart from in the credits.

When the player goes back in time to 31 December, 1870, Ephram appears to be in his thirties or forties. This contradicts with the information in The Sims: Bustin' Out, which says that Ephram has been a ghost for almost two centuries, since Ephram would only likely be dead for only one century.

According to Harlan King, Ephram dresses in a Civil War coat not because he was a soldier, but only simply thought that they were comfortable.